"So she actually came here…" Girisia with some worry in his eyes, rubbed his head as he drank some soup to help with his headaches.
'Shit… I looked down on her a bit too much.' His previous estimation of her rank was wrong and the kind of wrong he didn't want to be. Materializing in physical form like this and still leaving a remnant element in her wake, was something only grade two were capable of.
"I… I messed up. I should have thought about it." Girisia was pretty apologetic to the person in front of him too.
"Mayor himself approved of your request. So it should be that all of us messed up." Vanras said, not wanting to blame Girisia for things that have already been done. "For now, I have exposed some details of what happened to the mayor to some close associates who will be handling the situation as they see fit. We just need to wait before the Mayor wakes up."
"No… you don't get it. It was my fault completely…" Girisia was a bit confused on why Vanras the mayor's pet would treat him so good after the massive fuck up he did. But he needed to clarify some things on his own.
"The anomans are different, their physique is different, their brain is different and their whole existence is completely different. What my mistake is thinking I would be able to match their feats which I can't and never will." Girisia knew that some things needed to be said.
And hearing Girisia owning up to his mistakes, Vanras nodded in understanding. "We should focus on what we can do for now instead of what we should have done. Though I have suppressed the curiosity of some commanders, I won't be able to do it for long."
"The war is imminent and our leader can't even give out orders without being puppet by us. He is nothing more than a war machine." It would be a joke if the General of the army can't even give out commands or control the battlefield, the current Wilkis was only capable of interpersonal high-grade battles and not for leading an army.
So he was worried. Not just Vanras, but everyone who knew the current state of Wilkis.
"Just fight, you already have an advantage over them after my 'help'. You even found out who was controlling that fiend beast. So, from my perspective, our current state is a lot better than the one I saw in the vision. All we need is to send Wilkis to fight away from the battlefield."
Girisia said after a pause. "I also know where the beast will appear on the battlefield for the first time. So by predicting all possible routes, we can sneak up on it before it reaches the battlefield and leaves the rest of the work to AI-Mayor."
"You knew this from the start? And you didn't bother to tell us till now." Vanras demanded to know why Girisia hadn't spoken about such important information till now. If it could have been used earlier, they would have adapted their defense strategy around it.
"Don't be disgruntled. "Girisia was not in the mood for any jokes now, so he gave a straight answer. "The future is changing always, it had already changed by a huge degree with my intrusion and lots of knowledge I know is useless due to my actions, so if I needed to have an edge during this fight, I wanted not much to change in your defense as it would warn the beast and its masters and they may change their tactics."
"Now, with war imminent in three days, it's the perfect time to tell you about it. Just go and make your plans around it, find where it will try to attack from."
"Also, don't take this information as complete truth, a lot of your actions have changed compared to the way you may have reacted originally and our enemy is also an intelligent being. They are also looking at us like you spied on them and have probably altered their plans, making the information I have a bit useless." Girisia explained. He was surprised how easy it was to see the situation and how light his head felt after gaining some more points in his "Intelligence".
"Still, that information is helpful to us." Vanras, although not wanting to accept it, understood Girisia's reasoning.
"Then, you can be helpful to me by releasing me from this captivity, the time is nigh for my promise with Tarkov."
"That little anomans has also told me how itchy Yoshikov is due to my complete absence. Even if the things that happened put a stain on the plans I had, it's better to not mess them up even further." Girisia was really getting fed up with how all his plans just failed, it seemed there was a god of jesters that loved to see him suffer and struggle.
Well, he won't even be surprised if this turned out true. Lots of weird stuff had already happened and he won't be surprised if the thing that sent him in the past did so just to see him fail again and again.
But he also understood that blaming someone else for his faults will make him go nowhere. And this is what he wanted after Wilkis had told him about the mother of the child who now lived inside of him.
So he was going to own up to it. And make the best of his current situation.
"This, I am not sure letting you leave is a good choice, the child that now lives within you and its mother is not something I even understand. So I can't take any chances of letting you leave this place."
"You think the child inside me is just acting and can I take over my body the moment I leave this place?" Girisia can't explain to Vanras how he had killed the child so much over and over that the child even fears from surfacing up.
"Not just me, but even Prof. Farsight believes that," Vanras admitted to Girisia's words, this is the reason why he and Farsight both imprison Girisia in the place with the tightest security in Riber city, Wilkis's own home.
Same as why Tara was put on the job of taking care of Girisiai in their absence, as there was no perfect individual for this job besides Girisia's favorite lackey.
"I know myself the best… and I am sure…"
"You know that you have long lost credibility after the events that transpired before," Vanras said, stopping Girisia was speaking more.
"Yes, I know… I messed up as I said previously. And in truth, I truly am not sure if the thing inside me is suppressed or not." Girisia though hated the truth, accepted it. Understanding why Vanras did what he did.
"How about putting another bomb in my head?"
"You grew two of them last time."
"I can't control it though, and the thing that happened in that video may not happen again." Girisia had watched the video of himself turning into a wood monster and knew the thing this bizarre trait was capable of.
And looking at the logs of prompts he was even sure how this trait worked.
Unlike the 'optimized mutations' where the mutations are active and under user control with most of them not only adapting, but evolving the person into an all-rounder.
The 'Volatile mutations' exclusively target a specific subset of mutations that let you survive and it also can't be controlled by the user, he can never be sure what mutation he will gain during a fight. It's a passive trait, unlike his brother's.
"Then I will talk to Professor Farsight about it."
*****
This little discussion with Vanras had been tiring for Girisia. But he also felt empowered after it. It seems Vanras is not as assertive as his boss so he can be swayed a lot easier.
'Now let's see the state of my current stats.' Girisia said, ignoring Tara who had entered the room once again, probably streaming the room on her channel or forum to other players.
She was acting a bit too obvious.
Race: Karabit
Class: None[9]/Mutant[1]
Trait: Volatile Mutation
Racial Trait: Blood Infusion
Title: Vessel of Seventh Daughter, Guest of Wilkis Riber, Beggar of Riber city
[FSP: 4] [KP: 10] [Exp: 2617]
[Stats]x1.2
STR: 2
CTS: 12
DEX: 8
INT: 3
SPR: 0
WIT: 11
Vigor: 475
Health: 545/545
Class skill: Biomass Accumulation lvl4
Passive skills: Tenacious lvl4, Danger Discernment lvl3, Madness Suppression lvl4
Active skills: Muscle Control lvl1
Creation skills: Geneticist lvl1
Status effects: Mark of ???, Possessed lvl1, Vitality infusion[30%],
Knowledge[Uninitiated]: none
Augments[Uninitiated]: none
Remark: A famous buffoon who keeps messing up his life. And due to harming a child, he is followed by her mother who wants justice. Just go and die already.
Warning: Due to conflict over the player and NPC template, some of the player rights have been revoked.
One of the many things that bothered after waking up was the error that came up with his spirit stat, it was a worrying matter, he had previously thought the problem existed due to the brain damage he had. But now he was not sure of it, the reason maybe something to do with his transmigration as his spirit stat can't even be initialized. He knew that he shouldn't fight against any mages or shamans who are good at spirit techniques.
But there was something that worried him even more than his spirit stat problem.
'This fucker… is this stat-system controlled by someone too…' The remark didn't seem to be automated. Or maybe the AI running it was highly advanced and probably written by some salty douche.
'Well, fuck it… need to handle what's at front.'
'Hah, seems like Tara is not the only streamer anymore. I have two fans too…' Girisai paused, then turned to look at the 'remark' of his stat screen, then continued '... make that three.'
Girisia knew he was completely fucked. But laughing at his situation was a way for him to cope. And maybe, laughing at this stupid little player will make his day better.
"Tara, stop your streaming and come here for a moment," Girisia ordered Tara who was trying to fiddle with a fabricator. But her response was bizarre. First, she acted as if she heard Girisa's words and showed a confused look before she reverted to streaming like normal, with the same expression and once again pressing the same buttons on the fabricator as she did before.
"Huh?" Girisia paused, annoyed at the girl who chose to ignore him. "Just come here Tara, I got some good work for you."
It only then did Tara get up and move to Girisai, acting as if she never ignored Girisai, to begin with, much to Girisia's annoyance. 'I pity the fool that will marry this greedy girl.'